Rustic House

In Time...

“The best preventive remedy to ageing is architecture” How to design and build a project that will take few decades to complete “on time” for its owner retirement plan? In this project, ageing and weathering serve as a critical design tool for thinking about how architecture might intercept the changing state of weathering on site. On a sloping rural site with views over the land, the form and orientation of an existing cottage generates two further, similar buildings, which offer a more complete in-habitation of the ground. The first, a south-facing bedroom emerges from the hill; the second, a bathroom with double height shower of traditional Moroccan construction is largely contained within it. The three buildings are connected by a

Projects

COLD HAWAII INLAND

NATIONAL WATER SPORTS CENTER

Thy is a region on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark that is famous for its scenic fjord landscape. It is also the home of Cold Hawaii, a branded concept for 31 different locations along the coastline which are ideal for surfing. Together with Møller Grønborg and SlotherMøller, URBAN AGENCY has been invited to design Cold Hawaii Inland, a complementary network of water sports facilities along the fjord. All 10 Cold Hawaii Inland locations act as hinges between water and land. They bind those elements together, with comfortable spaces for activity and leisure. Each of the new locations has a unique natural characteristics and a variety of programs, but the entire network also represents a common ideology, which should be

Projects

MBC

NEW URBAN MAGNET ON YEOUIDO ISLAND

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) is one of the leading television and radio networks in South Korea. As the company increasingly expands, MBC decided to relocate the company to the outskirts of Seoul. The old broadcasting building which has performed as a key station during the last 40 years has become obsolete and requires conversion to allow more profitable and beneficial development. The ambitious urban and architectural idea proposed for the former site sets itself the challenge to bring back ‘cultural activities’ into the area and create an authentic and local Yeouido. The site will comprise of buildings falling under three principal programmes: residential, offices, and commercial.Instead of competing for commercial supremacy with other major venues around the MBC, the proposal

Projects

TECHNOPOLE

INNOVATION CAMPUS

The proposal for the Foum El Oued Technopole in Morocco can be seen not only as an opportunity to design a new campus of innovative architecture, technological innovation and merit but equally an opportunity to rethink the campus typology and carefully examine the ways it should perform for the sake of its multiple users and in a climatically intense environment. The new campus is devoted to research, innovation and training in the fields of science and technology with intent also to encourage sustainable development of the local population and environment through meticulous and thoughtful design choices. This proposal’s ambition, in terms of its architecture, is to reflect the philosophy of the technopole: establishing a dynamic centre and reference point that

Projects

NEWMARKET

URBAN CATALYST

The neighbourhood surrounding Newmarket in the Liberties holds a distinct heritage within Dublin city. From its origins as a medieval outpost to the flourish of textile production in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is important that the centre preserves its identity as a hub for the community. We propose, at Urban Agency, to do this to the site around Newmarket Square with the creation of a high-quality, versatile square. With the rejuvenation of Newmarket Square, the neighbourhood gains a space for new cultural and commercial developments to establish and thrive. Not only this but similar to other once-dormant sections around the city (Smithfield etc.) the Square has the potential to become a well known and visited area of the

Projects

LAAYOUNE

EDUCATION CENTRE FOR ALL

The project for a 10,000m2 adult education centre, located in the south-west of Morocco in a harsh and isolated area, aspires to create a robust, world-class education facility that will give generously to its community. Site strategy: Less is more Although the given site is quite large, the building occupies half of it in order to create a compact and introverted building, with a humble and simple exterior leading into a rich dynamic internal courtyard – drawing reference to the traditional “Medersa”( first universities) for its social, cultural and climatic ingenuity. Occupying a portion of the site allows for further development, creating the opportunity for expansion in the future. Meanwhile, the freed space will be used as a generous public

Projects

SLAGELSE

KNOWLEDGE CITY

Slagelse, a city strategically located at the point between Copenhagen and rest of Denmark, continues to undergo major transformations: Initially residing with the typical medieval city’s urban and street structure, then evolving through increased industrialisation supported by the railway development and further advancing with the establishment of shopping center in the 1970’s – each of these periods left a stamp in the city’s structure. The old town, train station and shopping mall are all located within a one-kilometre radius and can all be interpreted as an anchor in the town, each acting as main focal points of the city. Unfortunately, the area inbetween does not provide them with proper connections so they do not support each other and are forced

Projects

SCHOOL IN LURUP

NEW HEART OF THE DISTRICT

TThe aim of the competition for a school for 900 pupils in Lurup, one of Hamburg’s districts, was designing a stimulating and comfortable education venue for students, faculty and the surrounding community alike. Given the vast cultural programme proposed such as a community center, library, small theater, auditorium and sports hall, the project is set to become the focal point of the entire district, despite it’s central but hidden location in the “second row” – striving to create a neighbourhood magnet luring residents all day long. The school will have two entrances; the first in direct contact with the existing building and the second leading to the only road from which the building can be directly visible in the urban

Projects

FAABORG

NEW HARBOUR BATH

With the opening of the Harbour Bath, the inner-city waterfront of Faaborg has finally opened for bathing and recreation / public activity. This new public space on the water adds a new dimension of recreational activity to the beautiful South Funen Archipelago. The Harbour Bath is designed to tie a closer link between the city and the sea. Three thematic piers give room for everyone: Toddlers, children and young people can go wild while others enjoy the view of Faaborg Fjord. The “finger plan” with open basins between the three piers, offers multiple ways to approach the water. The wooden piers form ramps, stairs, sitting opportunities and small pools for children. The new development invites to take a bath,

Projects

SHENZHEN

Qianhai Exchange Plaza - More than trade!

Qianhai Exchange Plaza will be a place for economic exchange. But it has the potential for much more. It can become the place for exchange on many different levels – a place of a holistic identity of what exchange means in the 21st century. Social Exchange: Economic exchange is based on people interacting. This needs places where people can meet in a formal or informal way – places where social exchange in the context of business and outside it can take place. Cultural exchange: Qianhai and the exchange plaza are the heart of a new place that is supposed to foster exchange between Shenzhen and Hong Kong and between China and the world. Where people from everywhere meet it would

Projects

Poolbeg Twins

MAKEOVER FOR ICONS

The ESB’s recent controversial proposal to demolish the redundant but iconic Poolbeg Lighthouses provoked much opposition from Dublin citizens, including Dublin City Councillor and historian Dermot Lacey. URBAN AGENCY’s proposal aims to celebrate the unique identity and character of the Poolbeg Chimneys by giving them a new life and converting them into a new city destination: The Twin Observation Towers. The proposal includes glass bubble-like structures, one on 180-metre-high observation deck in one chimney and in the other, a 160-metre-high restaurant and venue for fundraising events, product launches, meetings, press conferences, receptions, and corporate parties. At the foot of the towers, a publicly accessible building comprising of an energy museum/education centre, a shop, a cafe and toilet facilities is proposed.

Projects

Fringe THEATRE

New Tent Structure

The Fringe Festival tent is a structure which is at the same time a spectacle. The brief is simple: A tent structure which can be erected in 24 hours, stand for one month for the duration of the festival and then be disassembled and stored until the following year. The project is five small domes all interconnected in a complex series of curves like the belly of a whale. A LED skin powered by embedded photovoltaic cells brings the pavilion alive during festival time. The containers that the pavilion is stored in become ticket booths, wardrobes, bars and VIP areas spread throughout the docks during the festival.

Projects

JEJU

Wood Experience Center

Jeju Island is the most natural tourist attraction in South Korea. The centre is situated in the most untouched forest area in Jeju called ‘Redorum.’ One of the main challenges was to design a building that respects the existing forest as well being iconic in its own right as a tourist attraction. The roof covers the whole space of the building, which accommodates an exhibition hall, workshop and library.

Projects

Kronberg

School of music

The major challenge of our design proposal is to enhance the area around the train station as a new gate to the city of Kronberg, Germany. The new ensemble of chamber music hall, Kronberg Academy and Hotel has been carefully designed to blend in with the station’s forecourt. The unique design of the chamber music hall has evolved from the unique characteristics of the landscape, the idea of ”flow” is to allow the landscape by means of a set-through foyer through the building. The building itself receives its special sculptural form through the curved design of the building’s envelope. Curved wall cutouts allow large-scale, column-free openings, theses characteristics shape the halls and also the exterior facades form.

Projects

Yuseong

Youth Center

The design for the Yuseong youth centre envisaged the building not just as an entity but as a composition of different identities. This vision involved devising seven programmatic volumes and lending them all a different architectural language to distinguish and characterise each function. We carefully recomposed the volumes to enhance their spatial and visual inter-relationships. We believe this process creates not only the appropriate context for youth to develop their individual interests but also to allow them communicate among different groups. The site is complex, having a green field and lake on the south-east side and a 50m road on north-west side. We started with an L-shaped layout to create a cozy and active urban backyard embraced both by our

Projects

Kløvermarken

Future of Copenhagen

In 2008 URBAN AGENCY, together with Vandkunsten Architects, won a two-stage urban planning competition for the development of the “Kløvermarken” quarter in Copenhagen. The project comprised the development of a new urban district with about 900,000 m2 of floor-area for housing, public and commercial use. Organised around the existing football fields, the project was designed with a focus on public health and sustainable living. URBAN AGENCY has worked on the project from inception to development plan and has been responsible for the development of a design manual for landscape architecture and public space.

Projects

Vogternes Raad

TV Studio on DR2

Urban Agency was commissioned to design the TV studio for a new TV show called Vogternes Råd on Danish national TV channel. In the weekly show, four panels including MC, Ane Cortzen, and hosts deal with polemic issues about Danish media with a critical and humorous point of view. We got inspired by a Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s work, ‘Gleaming lights of the souls’ and introduced it to our TV studio design. Our design seeks to create an infinite spatial sense in TV studio’s limited space by reflection with 35 mirror walls and LED lights. The studio surrounded by mirror walls contains innumerable reflections of colorful LED lights so it implies the infinite media production process between reality and fiction.